Presents:
Sonny Liston vs. Cassius Clay
February 25, 1964 and May 25, 1965
The heavyweight champion of the world in early 1964 was a seemingly unbeatable behemoth known as Sonny Liston.
Liston was a truly ferocious fighter who had trampled through the heavyweight division en route to two title bouts with previous champion Floyd Patterson, doing the unthinkable by knocking Floyd out in the first round twice. No one believed that anyone then living could beat Sonny Liston. Even the ranked challengers did not seem anxious for a title shot -- a situation unparalleld in boxing history.
Liston, a 215-pound wrecking machine with an incredible 84-inch reach, was the most feared fighter in the history of boxing. Sonny Liston had emerged from prison in the early 1950s to win the mid-west Golden Gloves. Immensely strong with a great natural left, he compiled a professional record of 14-1 from 1953 to 1956, when he was sent back to prison for assaulting a policeman. Released in 1957, a new and improved Liston clubbed his way through the heavyweight division.
Young and handsome Cassius Clay, dubbed “The Louisville Lip” by newsmen for the non-stop way he ran his mouth, was a teenaged boxing protege. He capped his sterling amateur career by winning the Gold Medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Italy.
Turning pro under the sponsorship of a group of Louisville businessmen, Clay was undefeated for the next three years, stunning boxing people with his skill, speed and braggadocio, even daring to name the round in which he would dispatch his opponents -- and usually making good on his predictions.
But English heavyweight Henry Cooper actually knocked Clay down in the closing seconds of the fourth round at Wembley before Cassius stopped him on cuts. Clay claimed he hadn’t seen the punch, a hook.
“If he couldn’t see Cooper’s,” said one expert, “how is he going to see Liston’s?”
Almost everyone thought Cassius was crazy to fight Liston, and Sonny was installed a heavy favorite at 7-1. In the popular mind, the brash young man seemed likely to get killed.
The stage was set for Sonny Liston versus Cassius Clay at the Miami Beach Convention Hall on February 25, 1964.
Liston’s dead pan, bad guy, superman persona and Clay’s brash charisma have been made it an eagerly anticipated bout.
And so we go to ringside. Barney Felix is the referee. Liston has weighed in at 218, Clay at 210 and a half. Les Keiter will do the blow-by-blow with Howard Cosell ringside color analyst. Keiter was well known for his work in NFL football. Keiter combined the excitement of Sam Taub and Clem McCarthy with the accuracy and professionalism of Don Dunphy when it came to doing boxing. His voice, a baritone, was clear but never shrill.
The rest is history. Clay went on to score an unbelievable knockout upset of Liston.
The Liston-Clay contract had provided that Clay’s first defense, if he won, was to take the return bout with Liston. That return, originally scheduled for November 16, 1964, had to be postponed until May 25, 1965 when Ali underwent an operation for a hernia.
Many felt the Clay-Liston bout in Miami Beach was a fluke. In fact, Liston claimed that he had injured his left shoulder -- the same shoulder that had caused a postponement of his rematch with Floyd Patterson in 1963.
The aura of Sonny Liston, the unbeatable, unstoppable behemoth, was still there despite the loss to Clay. Liston is a slight favorite over Ali in their rematch. The referee is former world heavyweight champion Jersey Joe Walcott.
Your blow-by-blow commentator for the heralded rematch is the much experienced Russ Hodges. Big-voiced Van Patrick and the veteran Bill Stern are the color men at ringside. The champion, announced as “Muhammad Ali” by ring announcer Johnny Addie, is referred to as “Cassius Clay,” the name by which he won the title, by the broadcast team. Not until the 1970s would this new name, Muhammad Ali, be fully accepted by the boxing community, and indeed by the world.
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